Under the shadow of maternity : birth, death and puerperal insanity in Victorian Britain

Death and fear of death in cases of puerperal insanity can be linked to a much broader set of anxieties surrounding childbirth in Victorian Britain. Compared with other forms of mental affliction, puerperal insanity was known for its good prognosis, with many women recovering over the course of several months. Even so, a significant number of deaths were associated with the disorder, and a large proportion of sufferers struggled with urges to destroy their infants and themselves. The disorder evoked powerful delusions concerning death, with patients expressing intimations of mortality and longing for death

Avaliação neurológica de pacientes adultos com linfoma não-Hodgkin: estudo prospectivo Neurologic evaluation of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in adult patients: a prospective study

Estudo prospectivo incluindo 67 pacientes adultos com linfoma não-Hodgkin, considerados segundo o "Working Formulation". A população foi estudada como um todo, quer apresentasse ou não anticorpos anti-HIV no soro. Todos os pacientes foram submetidos a avaliação neurológica e o exame do líquido cefalorraqueano (LCR) foi realizado em 63 deles. Os achados neurológicos e do exame do LCR foram correlacionados. Mostraram-se significativas as associações: dor tóraco-lombar localizada e alterações do LCR (presença de células neoplásicas, aumento da concentração proteica e/ou aumento do teor de globulinas gama); anormalidade da força muscular nos membros inferiores e alterações do LCR nos pacientes HIV soro-negativos. Houve correlação entre o aparecimento de sinais de comprometimento dos nervos cranianos III, IV e VI e a detecção de células neoplásicas no LCR.<br>This prospective study included 67 adult patients with low, intermediate or high malignancy degrees of non-Hodgkin' s lymphomas according to the Working Formulation. Patients with or without anti-HIV antibodies in the serum were considered. All patients were submitted to neurologic evaluation, and 63 of them to examination of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Patients presenting neurologic signs and symptoms were 42 (62.7%). Neurologic findings and CSF changes were correlated. The association of localized thoraco-lumbar pain and CSF changes (presence of neoplastic cells, increased protein concentration and/or increased gamma globulin content) was statistically significant, as the association of abnormal muscle strength in the lower limbs and CSF changes in patients without HIV antibodies in the serum. Cranial nerve dysfunction (III, IV and VI cranial nerves) correlated with the finding of neoplastic cells in the cerebrospinal fluid